UB is roughly 71 percent complete with its major fundraising campaign Boldly Buffalo.
Over 400 alumni, faculty, staff and UB community members attended a reception promoting the campaign on Tuesday evening at the Jacobs School of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences. The event marked UB’s first update on Boldly Buffalo, which has now raised $465 million, with $14 million raised since April 30.
Rod Grabowski, vice president for university advancement, said the fundraising efforts since April 30 have exceeded his expectations.
“We saw a surge in donations after our kickoff by the end of our fiscal year because people tend to give [donations] at two key times to the university: either the end of the calendar year or the end of our fiscal year,” Grabowski said. “During the summer time, there are often slow donation months and sometimes people are on vacation or away. So that’s part of the reason why we’re doing this event here tonight at the end of summer, to get people thinking again about UB.”
Grabowski said the campaign, the largest of its kind in UB and SUNY history, has stayed consistent with its message of Boldly Buffalo being “an investment in our students, our faculty and our world.” As of Tuesday, 61,226 donors have pledged over 161,000 gifts to Boldly Buffalo, with 112 donors giving $1 million or more.
Grabowski said UB established an annual fundraising goal of $70 million this fiscal year, with money going toward the campaign’s total.
“I think that’s significant because during the fiscal year that we just ended, June 30, we raised $56.3 million,” Grabowski said. “This year, we’re predicting a very sizable jump which is very hard to do but it’s really because donors are talking to us. They’re engaged, they’re participating and they want to be a part of the campaign.”
After an introduction at the event from alumni Joanne and Gregory Bauer, UB President Satish Tripathi spoke about the continued benefits and accessibility UB can provide to students through the campaign.
“UB is a community of unlimited possibilities, where ambitious students learn to think critically and challenge their assumptions about the world around them,” Tripathi said. “And a community where our faculty inspire students to give back as they move forward in their careers. It is an immense honor to lead UB and to see us achieving our vision of excellence. But we still have big dreams, bold visions and much to accomplish [and] our Boldly Buffalo campaign will help us achieve these goals, making UB shine even brighter.”
The event also featured a food and drink reception, guided tours of UB, virtual reality headset demos and a showcase of UB’s new Olli autonomous vehicle on Main Street.
Charlotte Cash Lasher, ‘66 alum, said she thinks Boldly Buffalo is a wonderful campaign for the future. “I wish UB a great deal of success. They saw a need for the university and they are working toward the future, so I hope the money is used wisely and they do as well as they have been since I’ve been here.”
Bruce Isselbaecher, ‘95 alum, said he is very proud of the campaign’s progress as an alum.
“I know people from around the world through the university. There are a number of prominent doctors in Western New York who are tied to UB, and that’s what we guarantee here. As long as UB goes forward in direction, how could you not be proud?”
Benjamin Blanchet is the senior features editor and can be reached at Benjamin.Blanchet@ubspectrum.com. Follow him on Twitter: @BenjaminUBSpec
Benjamin Blanchet is the senior engagement editor for The Spectrum. His words have been seen in The Buffalo News (Gusto) and The Sun newspapers of Western New York. Loves cryptoquip and double-doubles.
